When Warren Beatty won the long, dragged-out series of lawsuits to retain the rights to Dick Tracy, attorneys for the actor-director continued to avow that Beatty still had all sorts of plans for reviving the character, despite the fact that he hasn’t acted in a film since 2001’s Town And Country nor directed one since 1998’s Bulworth. So many people (okay, me) assumed that it was a somewhat selfish move to keep Dick Tracy away from its original rights-holders—and best-case scenario, an attempt to prevent them from licensing the property for which Beatty has such a strong personal affection to some other filmmaker who might actually do something with it. Not so, according to Beatty, who spent most of his recent Q&A at the Hero Complex Film Festival (which opened with a screening of the 1990 film) discussing his plans for the sequel he’s long promised, really.

Well, sort of: As with his legal war, he mostly just insisted, “I’m gonna make another one,” and then balked when pressed for specifics, most of the time simply replying, “I’m not going to tell you.” Of course, Beatty says his refusal to talk about Dick Tracy 2 is only because “I think it’s dumb to talk about movie before you make them. I just don’t do it. It gives you a perfect excuse to avoid making them. The more you talk about it, the longer it’s hidden.” And considering he’s spent 21 years not making the Dick Tracy sequel he nevertheless has always sworn is happening, he obviously doesn’t need any more excuses. [vi /Film]